Imaginary Friend
by Kiyami
Summary: Kikumaru Eiji nearly died from a heart condition, but was saved from a heart transplant. Few years later his health is still wavering. Few years later he is reunited with a lost childhood friend, who might be more than just an imaginary friend. [GP AU]


**Imaginary Friend**

**Meeting**

**Kiyami: I was in a rush to finish this. I wanted to get at least something done before vacation was over. I even used some of my time that I should be putting to good use sleeping. **

**Pairings: OishixKikumaru **

**_Italics_ mean flashbacks.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.**

**

* * *

**

When I was eight, nya, I had a fatal heart condition. I lived past the age of six, which was the age I would be expected to die. It's not very cheerful with people all around you doing everything to your heart's content just because you were going to die.

But then I got a heart transplant.

* * *

_"Get back in bed Eiji! You're still sick!"_

_"Nya I don't want to!" A redheaded little boy screamed at the top of his lungs. He clung to the leg of the table._

_"What did the doctor tell you? If you don't get better now, you might have to go to the hospital later."_

_"Not the hospital!" The little boy's eyes grew wide and he began to panic._

_His mother picked him up and carried him off to bed._

_"Now stay there until I make you something to eat. Sleep, read anything." She closed the door and locked it._

_The little boy sighed from boredom. It had been his fifth attempt at an escape in the last week. He was severely ill and had been kept in his bed for more than a week. It was driving him insane._

_Kikumaru Eiji was not the best person to keep inside for too long._

_"So bored…" He grumbled. He picked up a bright red bouncy ball and threw it at the wall._

_The ball hit the wall and bounced away from view. Eiji made another loud, forced sigh and fell back into his bed._

_"So bored…" He repeated. For a while he did nothing, but stare at the ceiling. He was hoping his mother would let him out soon._

_He turned over onto his side to look for some of his favorite toys. Instead his sharp eyes caught the faint image of a black haired boy sitting on the recliner that his mother often read stories to him on._

_The black haired boy turned his head away from the window. Their eyes met, cobalt meeting brown. Eiji shivered from either the drop in room temperature or the strange feeling like butterflies fluttering in his stomach._

_The strange boy sitting on the recliner smiled at Eiji. Slowly the image of the boy began to fade until all Eiji could see was the blue recliner and the beige colored wall behind it His eyes did catch a word before the boy disappeared though._

_Seigaku._

* * *

"MOERUZE BUURNING!" Taka shouted while madly waving the tennis racket around. He gave another burst of speed and gained a lead in front of the other regulars.

Ryoma smirked and followed quickly behind the power player.

"Ochibi!" Eiji's voice clearly rose above the commotion as the tennis players ran for their lives.

The pitcher of Inui Juice looked as though it was laughing at the tennis players. The putrid color and the revolting smell that drifted around to bring the nearby people sick to their stomachs. Why did Inui have to put the horrible concoction in a clear glass container?

"Time!" Inui shouted just as the regulars crossed the finishing line.

Mostly everyone collapsed onto the ground while breathing rather heavily. It didn't take them long to regain their breath and get back up on their feet except for Eiji. Kikumaru was still on the ground with a hand grasping at the spot over his heart. His face was distorted with pain and it caused alarm with his teammates.

"Eiji, are you alright?" Fuji kneeled by the heavily breathing tennis player.

"It…It…hurts…" Eiji muttered before losing consciousness. Kaidoh had already been sent to retrieve some medical help.

* * *

The sirens of the ambulance silenced most of Seishun Gakuen's tennis club. They watched as the people carried Kikumaru Eiji away with Ryuzaki-sensei to accompany him.

* * *

"_Wait! Wait! Who are you?" Eiji shouted at the top of his lungs while reaching his hand out towards the fading image._

_The spirit smiled gently again and his lips moved._

"_Call me…Syuichirou." _

_Eiji's fingers turned cold as the specter's fingers passed through his own._

"_Come back! Syuichirou!"_

_

* * *

_

Throughout the ride Ryuzaki raised an eyebrow as the catlike player continued to mumble out random words. What caught her attention was whenever he would say the name Syuichirou. The name rang a bell.

* * *

"_My name is Kikumaru Eiji, but you can just call me Eiji, nya!" The eight-year-old boy said with childish pride._

"_That's a wonderful name. Do you remember my name?" The boy asked._

"_Nya Syuichirou!" Eiji replied eagerly. He beamed proudly up at Syuichirou. "You're my new best friend."_

"_Great!" Syuichirou reached out a hand to comfortingly touch Eiji on the shoulder, but like before it only passed through Eiji's warm body._

_Eiji shivered at the sudden feel of being cold. "Syuichirou? Why are you always so cold? Why can't I touch you?" He innocently asked with large eyes staring up at Syuichirou._

_The black haired boy's seemed saddened by his questions, but tried his best to hide away the emotions. He smiled at Eiji before replying. "I'll tell you soon, but I have to go now. Good bye." _

_Eiji waved mournfully as the image of the mysterious boy disappeared from his room. Several moments later his mother opened the door curiously._

"_Eiji, were you talking to your little friend again?" The mother asked while assuming it was just an imaginary friend._

"_Yup!"

* * *

_

Eiji whimpered, looking stressed by the pain in his heart. Eiji had a special heart condition that nearly killed him, but in a strange stroke of luck he got a heart transplant. He survived his operation and grew up to become as normal as he could get. Despite that he was still somewhat unhealthy.

Eiji joined the tennis club at his school as soon as he began to attend Seishun Gakuen. The motivation behind it was uncertain, but the doctor was fine with the idea of exercise to strengthen the heart. Although the doctor never had too much physical exercise in mind, only a minimum that wouldn't leave Eiji in the condition he was in now.

His new heart just couldn't keep up with Eiji's actions during the race.

The worst thing was…it was a mystery why Eiji still had problems with his heart.

His body didn't seem to be rejecting it and he would be deemed perfectly healthy otherwise.

* * *

"_Well I love to swim and I used to take care of some fishes. I used to be on my school's tennis team too." Syuichirou told Eiji._

"_Uwa! Mommy doesn't let me take care of any pets. I really want a kitty cat though!" Eiji was sprawled on the ground while drawing a picture. "Did you know my birthday's coming up? I'm going to be nine."_

"_When is it?" Syuichirou asked eagerly._

"_November 28th!" Kikumaru replied with pride in his voice for being born on such a wonderful day._

"_I'll make sure to be here!" Syuichirou promised._

_

* * *

_

"Syuichirou! Syuichirou!" Eiji's sleepy mumblings now turned into yells for his childhood friend. The area around his eye became moist from the tears beginning to spill out from his big eyes.

* * *

"_I wonder where he is…" Eiji asked himself as he looked around the room. Despite the scoldings he received from his parents about growing up and imaginary friends, he still wanted Syuichirou to be here. Anyway the black haired boy seemed way too realistic to be just his imagination, right?_

"_Eiji! Eiji! Your friends are waiting for you?" His mother called from below._

_Eiji, feeling disappointed, pouted and left the room.

* * *

_

After his ninth birthday Eiji saw his friend no longer. Soon the memory of the black haired boy was driven away. He had lost hope in seeing the boy again after Syuichirou stopped visiting. Despite that Eiji still kept the messily drawn picture of Syuichirou and him, hanging on the wall in his room.

It continued to hang there even with six years going by.

* * *

"Doctor! Doctor!" Eiji was being rushed to the Emergency Room.

The sign was switched on above the doors announcing to all in the waiting room that Eiji was still in there, being treated.

By now Eiji's friends had arrived. All of them watching the door anxiously for the condition of their friend.

Finally the door opened.

* * *

Eiji opened his eyes slowly. Fuji smiled down at him and waved the other tennis players over to the white bed.

"I told you that you shouldn't have ran so much." Fuji said.

"But Ochibi was just asking for a challenge! I had to!" Eiji defended himself.

"Mada ma-" Ryoma never got to finish as Momo elbowed him. Ryoma ended up spilling the can of Ponta on himself. Momo received an unpleasant glare from the freshman.

"Nya, I'm better now…" Eiji trailed off as he stared at the open window.

Standing by the open window was a familiar face. Black hair, brown eyes, and a friendly smile. He even wore a uniform that clearly belonged to Seigaku.

"What is it, Eiji?" Fuji asked. He hoped Eiji was fine. Eiji was, afterall, his best friend.

"Syuichirou…"

* * *

**To Be Continued…**

**Kiyami: Sorry if everything seemed so rush. I really wanted to a write this story, but I couldn't think of a way to actually write it. **

** Long story short, Eiji receives a heart transplant that saves his life. He meets a ghost who he thinks of as an imaginary friend. Parents tell him to stop imagining things, friend goes away. Eiji runs his life from the poison that is Inui Juice and ends up at the hospital. There he sees his ghost friend once again. **

** I really hope that cleared up any confusion because I'm always worried I'm confusing someone and I hope I haven't confused any of you because I know I'm really good at confusing people. **


End file.
